S Is for Surprise!
by jlm110108
Summary: It's Alan and Margaret's 25th anniversary, and Don and Charlie have plans.


Charlie sat at his small desk, almost hidden by two stacks of blue text booklets. Don tapped on the door frame, grinning. "Hey, Buddy."

"Don! Hi!"

"Whatcha up to?"

Charlie sighed. "Correcting quizzes for my thesis adviser. The joy of being a TA."

"You get to do all the work the big guy doesn't want to do, right? Kind of like being a rookie special agent."

"Yeah, but you've been there a year now. Isn't there someone else lower on the totem pole for you to pick on?"

"Yeah, finally. But the problem is the junior agent is a woman. If I pick on her, I'll get in trouble for sexual harassment."

"That sucks. So what's up?"

"Tomorrow's the party. Have you picked up the gift yet?"

Charlie grinned and pulled a bag out from under his desk. "Got it."

"Lemme see," Don said, coming around the desk.

Charlie opened the bag and revealed the antique silver platter. "You think they'll like it?"

"I know they will. It is their silver anniversary, after all."

"So is everything ready for the party?"

"Yep. I just need to pick up the beverages. You live with 'em. Do they suspect anything?"

"Not a thing. It's all good."

Margaret looked up from her work and grinned at her husband. "Alan! What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

Alan pulled her into an embrace and nuzzled her neck. "This neck."

"Stop," Margaret laughed, slapping playfully at Alan. "This is a professional office, and you are behaving in a totally unprofessional manner."

"Darn. I just wanted to see if you're ready."

Margaret smiled and pulled her overnight bag out from under her desk. "You're sure the boys aren't planning anything?"

"Not a thing. They're both too wrapped up in their own careers. I doubt if they even know tomorrow's our anniversary, let alone our twenty-fifth. Besides, you know Charlie. If they were planning something, he'd have let the cat out of the bag by now."

"All right. If you're sure."

"They won't even miss us. We'll leave Charlie a note so he doesn't worry. We'll have tonight and all of tomorrow to ourselves and be back Sunday."

Saturday morning, Don arrived at his parents' house. He drove by slowly, noticed that their car was gone, and parked around the corner. "Hey, Chuck," he called as he opened the front door.

Charlie came from the kitchen. "Hey, Bro."

"Where are they?"

"No clue. I didn't see them last night, but I was kind of wrapped up in a new theory I'm working on. And they were gone when I got up this morning."

"Crap. I wish we had some idea when they'd be back. Didn't they leave a note?"

"Nope. When's everybody coming?"

Don checked his watch. "At noon. We've got three hours to get ready. Might as well get going. If they come back, I'll distract them."

By noon, everybody was gathered in the back yard except for Alan and Margaret. At one o'clock, Aunt Irene stood, her hands on her hips and addressed the brothers angrily. "I can't believe you lost your parents. Don Eppes, you are an FBI agent for heaven's sakes. Surely you can find your own parents. And Charles Eppes, you should have noticed they were missing last night. I don't know what we're going to do with you."

Don and Charlie exchanged guilty glances. Don straightened, stuck out his chin and said, "Come on, Charlie. We'll find them. Aunt Irene, you stay here and run the party while we're gone."

As they walked into the house, Charlie whispered, "Where are we going?"

"How the heck do I know? I just know we couldn't stay there with Aunt Irene. Let's check their room."

Five minutes later, Don summarized, "Their overnight bags are gone. Their toothbrushes are gone, and it looks like maybe one or two changes of clothes."

Charlie nodded, staring at his shoes. "They snuck off to celebrate their anniversary." He looked up suddenly. "They really had no idea we were planning something."

Don sat on the bed, burying his face in his hands. "What are we going to tell everybody?" He looked up at Charlie, "Why didn't you keep an eye on them last night? How'd you let them get away?"

"I don't think they even came home last night, Don."

"How would you know? You were in your own little bubble..."

"Don, that's not fair. Besides, what good is it going to do now to blame me? We still have a yard full of people and no guests of honor."

"All right. Where would they go for a night on their twenty fifth anniversary? Someplace special, right?"

"How about that little bed and breakfast where they went on their honeymoon? They're always talking about how romantic that was."

Two hours later, Alan and Margaret were sitting on the porch of their romantic little bed and breakfast. They had eaten a leisurely lunch and walked along the beach. Now in the heat of the afternoon, they sat in the shade, enjoying the cool ocean breeze. Margaret sighed. "This was a wonderful idea, sweetheart. But I hope the boys aren't upset."

Alan shrugged. "You left them a note, right? If they... What?"

"I asked you to leave them a note. Oh, no. Alan! They have no idea where we are." Margaret stood. "I'm going to call them. They must be worried half to death by now." A few minutes later, she returned. "There's no answer."

"See. Charlie's probably off in another world someplace. Did you try Don's place?"

"I did. No answer there either." Margaret sighed as she sat back down in her chair. "Maybe we should go back today."

"Why?" A voice came from around the corner.

Margaret and Alan turned, amazed to see Don, Charlie, Aunt Irene, Art, Stan, and another dozen or so of their closest friends.

"Surprise!" The crowd hollered. "Happy Anniversary!"

As the guests were loading the leftovers into their cars, Don and Charlie stood with Alan and Margaret on the porch. Margaret wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Boys, that was a wonderful surprise. Thank you!" She hugged Don and then Charlie. "I'm sorry we messed things up for you. Your father was supposed to leave you a note."

"I thought you were going to leave the note," Alan said. "But either way, I'm sorry we doubted you two. We just assumed that you were so wrapped up in your own work that you wouldn't remember."

"It's okay," Don said. "It all worked out fine." He grinned at Charlie. "I'm guessing you assumed that big mouth over here would have blabbed if we had anything going."

"Big mouth!" Charlie gave Don a playful shove. "You take that back!"

"Aw, Charlie, you know you couldn't keep a secret to save your life," Don laughed.

Charlie raised his eyebrows. "Oh, you'd be surprised, brother of mine. You'd be surprised."


End file.
